Altered
by DAve and Bob
Summary: Non-benders started to develop abilities that couldn't be explained. As the years went on, they gained the name Alters, Unfortunately, republic city is a hot spot for not only benders and alters, but roaming spirits as well. Asami wished to have nothing to do with either, even when she herself is an alter. However, when Asami cuts up a girl, her hand is forced.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Alters,**

Asami rubbed her temples as she adjusted her glasses, once again she woke up late...though it was a habit that had been developing for awhile now as she looked across her room, nothing of importance was there as she sighed.

"I bet dad is at one of his meetings again," It was obvious as Sato left her bed and opened her window, it was sunny no doubt. It was getting closer and closer to summer so it was only natural that the temperature would increase as well.

Asami sighed as she went towards her closet, there were plenty of outfits to choose from as she scratched the back of her head, she didn't have anything planed at the moment so wearing something plain would have been alright.

As the teenager dressed herself, she left her room and headed downstairs, no doubt the maids were getting breakfast ready. As Asami descended down the stairs she noticed two of the maids listening in on the radio, which was probably something people were doing more and more often.

"_Yeah, that's right, murders have been happening throughout the city..." _Asami sighed as she fixed her glasses, everyone assumed it was an Alter that was committing the acts, which didn't help bender and alter relationships at all. Something that was already near its breaking point. Though Asami had to wonder why that was, after all it was perfect wasn't? Benders can do things Alters can't and Alters can do things benders can't.

"_Though, perhaps I'm being to naïve about the whole situation," _Asami laughed to herself, politics was one thing, but the human mind was another. Asami took her seat in the main room as the maids took a small bow before asking the girl a question.

"Miss Sato, would you like us to get your Satomobile ready?" It was an odd question to make as Asami paused for a moment. No doubt that is what she usually took, either that or she would have someone drive her around town, but that day Asami felt rather odd. Like she simply wanted to take a walk, it was a nice day after all, it would be a shame if she let it go to waste.

"No thank you, I'll be walking today, perhaps I'll look around some shops..." Asami adjusted her glasses as the maid smiled.

"Very well Miss Sato, please enjoy your meal and please be careful," They would always say something like that, like if Asami didn't know how dangerous the city was, even during the day.

"I will..." Asami keeping herself alive was the least she could do for her mother, after all she died protecting her, so it was only natural that she had a certain value in her own life. If she died then her mother's death would be worthless.

"_Maybe, I'm thinking too hard about it...after all dying is scary," _Dying was horrifying, probably the scariest thing that can happen to you. Once you're dead, you're dead, there is nothing after that. Regular humans don't get to enter the spirit world, so it's only natural that someone should protect that with all they have. Perhaps it was a little selfish, but that was one area that Asami could be selfish in.

The streets were filled with people, like always. There probably wouldn't be a day that went by that republic city wasn't packed. Asami counted herself lucky that she didn't live in the less than privilege end of the city, it was annoying no doubt, between the benders and alters always fighting. Someone was always bound to get caught in the cross fire of things, and the murders didn't help either.

Asami simply wanted to relax, be alone for awhile, with the stress of funding the Pro-bending team and her boyfriend, the stress of her father. Those things weighed rather heavily on her, as she simply sat on a bench as people and birds walked by. The sun was still out as Asami felt her pocket.

"Oh..." It seemed there was a butter-knife there, no doubt it was from when she was eating breakfast, she probably put it in her pocket because she needed to do something and forgot. It probably wasn't anything important as Asami leaned back on the bench.

For some reason, Asami couldn't help but look at everyone oddly, what do others think? Is it important, are their thoughts even real? Asami sighed. _"Well, I guess everyone is a main character of their own story, saying someone is more important than yourself is a pretty pointless way to look at things," _After all, you could be the most special person in the world, but in the end if your story doesn't connect to that of the main character you are nothing, but a side plot.

"Is this seat taken?" A woman smiled as Asami simply blinked, no doubt she was in her early twenties, her black hair was cut short as she smiled. However the most odd thing about her was her red eyes, Asami wondered if she was an alter, after all they had a tendency to have rare eye colors.

"No..." Asami didn't want to turn the woman down, after all it was a public bench as the woman hummed to herself. As if she didn't have a care in the world.

"Nice weather we're having, it's a shame it has to be ruined by such sad affairs," No doubt the woman was talking about the recent murders that have been happening as Asami looked towards the ground adjusting her glasses.

"Yeah..." It really wasn't something that Asami wanted to talk about, despite everyone around her talking about it all the time. Sure it was an interesting topic, but it was still a messed up one no doubt as the woman laughed.

"The bodies are usually so badly mangled that the police assumed an animal did it at first, sometimes entire half's would be missing. Like someone was eating a meal and got tired of it," Asami shuttered, she hadn't heard such a detail before. She didn't want to see something like that in her lifetime, it sounded disturbing to say the least.

"Yeah, but now they are saying an alter did it...which is just plain rude right? I mean what kind of alter would simply removed half a body and leave the other half there? It's not like they were trying to make it harder for the police to identify them... taking the head and hands would do that," It was creepy, how the woman was talking about murder so casually as Asami frowned, she wanted the conversation to be over that instant.

"Well, Asami Sato, those glasses aren't there because you have poor eyesight are they..." Asami eye twitched as she got up from the bench, it was obvious that hanging around that woman would only cause trouble and pain, something that Sato wished to avoid at all cost. But before she could walk away the woman said something out of place.

"Hmm, there has to be a reason right? You're an alter, but most alter's can hide themselves without resorting to something like that...unless you see something so horrible that you would go insane without them...so tell me Sato, what do you see?" Asami heart raced, not only did the woman know her name, but she also knew about _those _something that Asami wanted to hide desprtaly, after all a human wasn't supposed to see those kind of things. They weren't suppose the see the flaws of everything around them.

It wasn't something you could brag about, it wasn't something that you could show off, the only thing that ability did was make Asami realize just how fragile and flawed the world was. Something most people wished to avoid, no matter what.

"How..." Asami voice staggered as the woman simply shrugged before leaving the bench as well.

"Well, whatever you are, and whatever you can do, I'd recommend you locking your doors and covering your ears at night. The Avatar is going to be paying a visit to this city soon, so she'll probably accuse anyone that even looks odd. Asami frowned, she was somewhat insulted that the woman said she looked odd, but that probably shouldn't have been the main thing on her mind.

However, before Asami could ask another question the woman was already gone, vanishing into the crowd of people. Asami frowned once again, mysterious people like that were rather annoying, but Asami had to wonder why she knew her name and what was interesting about herself.

Surely there must have been other alter's that had more interesting abilities, why single her out? What was so interesting about her, either way the only thing that Asami could hope for is that the woman would go to the media with the information. Even then Asami could simply deny it, but her image would probably change.

"Maybe, I should think a bit," After all, her day out just started, and the maids would have probably asked her if something was the matter, and Asami wasn't someone who could hide her emotions easily. So it was only natural that she stood around, even if it was just for a moment.

Asami was about to leave the park, until she noticed something odd, something strangely beautiful. Something that was driving her insane by looking at it, a girl, a girl that Asami had never seen before.

She was pale, no calling her that was far too nice, she was like a ghost, her eyes a light hint of blue as she walked through the park without a care. No doubt her hair was stuffed under the hat as Asami's eye twitched. For some reason she felt heat rising in her chest. Something was pulling the cords in her brain.

Asami felt the knife in her pocket..

"_I should talk to her..." _Sato said those words as she crept through the park, it was odd actually, if you want to talk to someone you simply run up and speak with them, you don't stalk them. You certainly don't hide behind trees and wait for them to turn around if you want to _talk _with them.

The girl was obviously from the higher part of the town, the cleaner part where not a single crime was ever committed. Perhaps it sounded snobbish, but separating the areas probably did more good then bad. After all, who wanted to be mugged by a bender or killed by an alter, but none of that information was worth anything as the girl stopped at one of the many hotels that were built.

It was perfect, it was about three floors up, made of steel and glass the girl entered the rather large building as Asami crept behind her. She couldn't fall behind the person she was going to _talk _to, that is why she followed the girl into the lobby.

"_Ah...what am I doing, this is weird..."_Asami's brain stated that, but her body still continued toward a single goal of _talking _with the girl. That is what Asami needed to do _talk _with her, nothing more, nothing less.

There were on the second floor of the hotel, no a single person was walking the halls, not a single person, but the girl that Asami needed to _talk _to, Asami peeked around the corner as the girl entered the room. The hall had a soft warm light, perfect for _talking._

Asami simply walked towards the door as she prepared to knock, her hand still on her pant leg, where her pocket was located. Though she forgot something important, she forgot to take off something that shouldn't be on her face in the first place.

Asami tapped her glasses, "I can't _talk _to her with these, I can't, I can't..." It was the one thing that was holding Asami back as the gray eyed girl removed them.

At that moment, her world shattered, the door in front of her looked like it had been cut up and broken. Lines, stars and blocks crawled along the floor and the ceiling of the hall as Asami, winced, she wanted to scream. But held her voice back, after all, she wouldn't have been able to _talk _to the girl if she screamed as Asami knocked on the door.

It didn't take long for a response, it was quick and perfect.

"Hello?" The pale girl opened the door, not realizing Asami already slipped between the space between the door way and her body, as the girl eye twitched. "Wah,"

Too bad, it seemed the girl wasn't even able to finish her statement, the moment Asami was in her room, the girl was cut into four pieces.

**Author note**

**Alters, those who are born with special _gifts_ of varying power and use. Though most of them have slight mental problems and are for more willing to do violent acts then others. **

**Asami is an alter, her _gift _is to see the flaw on things places and objects and dismantle them and destroy them. What she sees changes depending on what she is using.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Decision **

Her head wanted to crack open, Asami grumbled as her eyes twitched. All of the events that had transpired were simply fuzzy images that may or may not have happened. So it was only natural that she was woke up the next day, in her room. Despite not remembering how she got there and what happened after following such and odd looking girl.

"_Yeah...what did happen," _Asami opened her eyes as she winced, the lines and shapes started to crawl around the world, dancing across the room.

She usually slept with her glasses on to avoid something like that, after all, even if she stepped on such a thing they probably wouldn't break. She reached over to her counter as she put the small frame over her eyes. Those horrible things vanished as Asami sighed, she was trying to remember something that probably didn't happen in the first place...

"Lady Asami...are you alright?" One of the maids knocked on Sato's door as the teenage girl quickly shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking about something randomly, Asami wondered if she had something important to do that day... or if it was even the next day at all.

"Y-yes, I'm fine..." Asami replied as she took a deep breath, once again she would get dress and plan her day from there.

"Very well, breakfast will be ready soon, but if something is bothering you, you are free to talk about it..." The maid sounded rather nervous and odd, like she saw something that was strange and she didn't want to talk about it. Though even Asami wondered what something like that would have to do with her.

"_Well, whatever is bothering her, it had nothing to do with me..."_ Asami said bluntly to herself, after all, someone who stuff their noise in other peoples business were annoying. She diffidently wouldn't want someone doing that to her, so she would keep that much to herself.

Asami dressed herself as she descending the stairs like she did every morning as a plate of food was already prepared, the radio was on as always...as one of the many maids simply sighed.

"How odd, they said there was enough blood at the scene for a murder, but there wasn't a body...how odd..." No doubt it was another conversation about the recent murders in the area, this time there was a disturbing lack of flesh to go along with the blood. Perhaps whatever was causing the murders actually finished their meal. "Yeah, really creepy, what makes it worse is the fact it wasn't too far from here, apparently in a hotel or something,"

Asami winced, as if she was in pain. As if her mind remembered something that was being pushed back as she rubbed her forehead. She felt like blood was going to leak out from her ears, as one of the maids simply blinked before shuttering.

After all, Asami was quite the violent child before she got her glasses, far more violent then most normal children at her age, and despite being rather kind she had a nasty habit of becoming irritated upon losing said glasses. "Miss Asami, are you alright?" Something the maid said from the bottom of her heart as Asami simply shook her head.

"N-no, I'm fine...I just need to take a walk or something," Once again Asami would take another pointless walk, despite the fact she rarely walked to places in the first place. She was far more comfortable in a Satomobile, though she feared if she attempted to drive one at the current moment she would just crash.

"_Though, I'm pretty sure I took one yesterday..." _Pretty sure was the key words, Asami wasn't sure if she went for a walk or simply sat on a bench, perhaps a combination of the two was the correct answer as one of the servants spoke.

"Well, Miss Asami, please don't stay out too long...you were gone for quite some time yesterday, imagine if your father was home. He would have been biting his nails worried sick about you, you also have an image you need to keep, after all you are still a Sato," Asami sighed, she knew all of that. She wouldn't do anything that would put her fathers company in jeopardy, at least not willingly.

"I understand, don't worry, I promise I won't stay out longer than an hour," It seemed Asami forgot that something important, she forgot that she shouldn't make promises that she couldn't keep.

The air around town was distorted, not by the temperature or wind, but by the fear of the people in the area. Everyone was on edge, after all there was a killer on the loose, and no one wanted to be the next victim, after all it's in human nature to avoid death. It's is in everyone's nature to avoid something like death. Because once you're dead that's it, there is no coming back, dying bravely is dying quickly and that was something that Asami wanted to avoid at all cost.

So has she walked around on such a nice day, a tug of sadness tug on the girls heart. If the killings continued to happen, no doubt the city would lose its soul. No one would go out at night, which was one of the best things about the city, even if Asami didn't have a large emotional connection to the place, it would still be sad to see it strip of what made it grand.

Even the Triple Threat Tirade was afraid to venture out at night, after all the murders weren't natural at all. Have eaten and chewed bodies couldn't be the work of a human, as Asami stopped for a moment, she stopped walking as her heart raced. She was on the middle of the sidewalk as she turned around. At that moment she realize the cause of that feeling.

_Thump_

A pale girl with a hat that devoured her hair.

_Thump_

A familiar face that Asami only saw cut in two...

She was smiling, skipping along the sidewalk towards Asami, her eyes scanning Sato as Asami nearly gagged. She was remembering something that was locked down deep into her mind, something that happened the day before... _"No, no, no, that's not right, that's not right at all, that person doesn't exist...because I wouldn't do that."_

Asami simply continued to walkdown the sidewalk only glancing behind her to keep track of the unknown girl, a piece of something kept snapping into her head, but what was it? It was something important, something that was needed, but no matter what happened it couldn't be remembered.

So...no matter how quickly Asami walked, the girl simply followed her, she was still smiling. Asami knew she already started to increased her speed, but the girl casually walked towards her not breaking a sweat. Perhaps it was because Asami knew, what she did...

"_Just vanish...disappear, be crushed, I don't care just stop following me!" _Asami wanted to scream, but she wondered if what she was seeing was just in her head, or if the girl was really there, as Asami turned a corner. Entering an alleyway, no one was there, not a soul wandered about with a murderer out and about as Asami leaned against the large brick wall.

"You're done...right?" The odd girl already caught up as Asami eye twitched, she couldn't speak, after all she was looking at a dead person. Even if Asami didn't remember the details, she knew for a fact that the girl in front of her was cut to pieces. "...Nothing to say? After what you did, you look horrified, shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Asami remained silent, perhaps her brain shut off for a moment, as the pale girl pouted, giving a large huff, "What's wrong with you...do you realize how much trouble you caused me? Do you realize how long it took me to put myself back together? How painful it was, I thought I was going to go insane!" The girl was complaining as Asami swallowed harshly. The girl had to be lying, she had to be.

First of all, people die when they are murdered, when the heart stops working and the brain ceases to function they are dead. That was the one unavoidable law of nature, death could be caused by a large number of things, however being cut into four pieces was one of the most straight forward. So if the girl before her was truly cut to pieces, then she couldn't have been before Asami. After all, dead people can't be alive, and people die when they are murdered. So a murdered girl couldn't have been talking to Asami in the first place.

"T-that's not possible, but...I'll pay you want you want, that's alright...right?" It was sleezy and underhanded, especially if Asami didn't do anything wrong. However, paying people off was probably the best bet in ending things without any hassle. Asami also doubted that the girl would simply leave her if she didn't do this.

"Pay me? That's no good, I don't need anything as worthless as money," Asami winced, that was not the answer she expected. Asami didn't really have much else to offer her, at least not without permission from her father as the girl continued. "However, you did make me lose an entire day of searching, and messed me up pretty badly...so I'll need your help,"

Asami winced, that wasn't something she wanted to hear, she wanted to get away from the crazed girl as soon as possible. So helping her with anything was out of the requisition, perhaps if she politely refused the girl would simply give up. "And...what if I said I have something really important to do," Asami stated, that as the entire mood of the conversation shifted.

The girl with the bright eyes gained a glazed, almost dead look as she tilted her head slightly. No doubt what she was about to say was going to be horrifying. "No good, if you can't pay me back with time, then you can pay me back with blood. I'll tear you up, tear you into four piece and watch...I'll see if you can pull yourself back together from that, don't even try to fight me. The first time you got lucky, but this time I'll make sure I'll kill you before you move an inch," Asami shuttered, the girl wasn't joking, she wasn't laughing or smiling.

Asam remained silent, it was a bluff she wanted to call, but had far too much fear to call it. She didn't know what kind of person the girl in front of her was, whether she was an alter or a bender. If she was the killer that left bodies half eaten or simply a random girl who had a broken mind. Either way, fighting would be bad, really bad.

"I...okay," Asami winced as she replied as the girl clapped her hands. The aura of death that was surrounding the pale girl vanished. It seemed Asami wasn't the only one with a distorted mind as the girl spoke.

"Ah, see, that wasn't so bad. What we have to do is simple, but we can't talk about it here..." Please, follow me." Asami mouth twitched as the pale girl took the lead, turning her back on Sato. Many things passed through the teenage girl's head.

"_If I'm going to run, now would be the best time...but if I run she'll just chase me down again," _Not only that, if Asami ran she would risk bringing the girl back to the manor. Something that would only create more problems than solve. Plus there wasn't any harm to hearing her out, perhaps it was something as simple as cleaning something or buying something.

The two girls walked in silence as they came up to a familiar hotel. It was familiar because Asami saw it often, one of the most expensive in the entire city. Mostly do to its location in the city, the fact that Asami could see the building from her manor showed exactly how perfect it was. Though she doubted it would be desirable for much longer, due to the fact that a large amount of blood was found on the higher floor.

"You know, I had to change rooms because of you," The girl was rather harsh with her words as Asami simply blinked, why did she need to change rooms? Why was that Asami's fault, she was trying to piece together the events of yesterday, but they simply weren't fitting.

Asami walked with the girl, up the steps to the higher floor, Asami forgot how many floors there were, but she knew they didn't go past the second floor as the duo traveled down the hall. It was rather unsettling to say the least, mostly due to the fact that not a single soul was around.

Once they reached the girl room, she took out a small key and opened it, inside a single bed and a radio stood out. Another small room to the side was protruding, no doubt it was the bathroom. Before Asami could even say anything the pale girl sat on the bed before taking a deep breath. "I rented out this entire floor, I was really lucky no one else had a room here before me," No doubt doing something like that was extremely expensive.

However, none of that mattered to Asami, what mattered to Asami was why she was there, and what she was doing. "Well, I guess a pointless song and dance wouldn't be helpful, so I'll just get straight to it...Do you know where the Avatar is, or where I can find her?" Asami cocked her eye, as she continued to stand.

"No, never met her, and I have no ideal where she is at the moment..." Asami replied bluntly as the girl frowned, perhaps this was the thing she needed. Asami hoped that it would be as simple as that as. However such a thing was dashed when the girl brought up the next point.

"The murders that have been happening in the city...I assume you know about them," Asami bit her lip, of course she knew about them. Everyone knew about them, it wasn't something that could have been ignored.

"Yeah, but I don't know what that has to do with me..." Asami didn't want any part in a murder mystery as the pale girl sighed as she looked towards the ceiling. It seemed she disliked explaining anything to the Asami.

"Well, the killer is someone really dangerous! So I decided to look for them and take them out, I wanted to get the help of the Avatar just to be nice, even though I probably could have handled it by myself. I looked for weeks, I was about to stop yesterday and just find the killer...but," The girl eyes narrowed, no doubt she was glaring at Asami with a certain level of hate.

"Someone, sliced me up...not only did I have to waste an entire day putting myself back together, but I'm pretty sure it messed me up badly. So badly that I probably can't even stop the killer by myself," The girl bit her bottom lip, as if she was shamed by the fact that such a thing happened to her,

"What's worse is that, this happened before, but I wasn't this messed up afterward...I just put myself back together, and I was fine...but the way you cut me up. The speed you did it, and what you targeted...I'm not even sure it was my physical body," Asami didn't understand at all, surely the girl was lying, even if Asami had visions of herself doing something like that. The girl had to be lying."

"T-this doesn't answer why I'm here..." Asami knew what the girl was going to say next, she didn't want to hear it, but she knew what the girl was going to say.

"Well, you are going to help me stop the killer," She smiled as Asami shook her head, if there was a way to say know twenty times in a single moment no doubt Asami would have used it.

"I can't do something like that! Are you crazy, listen I don't know what you expect from me, yes I took classes in self-defense and learned quite a lot, but you don't actually expect me to catch a killer? I'm still a normal human, I'm still a normal girl..." No matter how wealthy her family was, Asami was still human, she would bleed if she got cut and die if her heart stopped.

"Really now? You're saying all teenage girls can cut people into four pieces? I guess teenage girls are really something!" Asami knew the girl was being sarcastic, as Sato adjusted her glasses. She was about to leave, even the threat of violence would make her stay.

"Listen, I-" Asami cut herself off as she looked towards the girl, red filled her vision as a large stain appeared on the girl white shirt. No doubt it was blood, and it wasn't a small amount either, it seemed their was a gushing wound under the piece of clothing as the pale girl tilted her head and sighed.

"Oh, it opened up again...could you pass me that?" The pale girl pointed towards a small roll of tape as Asami blinked, why tape? What was tape going to do for a wound such as that? Either way, Asami didn't refuse the request as she gave the girl the roll of silver tape. "Actually, you can help me with this, please lift my shirt a little..." Asami frowned, she really didn't want to see the wound, not only that she wasn't really a doctor. She doubt she would be of any help, but still, Asami complied as her eye twitched.

It seemed it was already tapped once, though it was trenched in blood. The most awkward part about it was the fact there wasn't any bandages used. The flesh was tapped together as if it was some cheap piece of paper.

"Don't worry about removing the old stuff, just tape over it..." The girl smiled as Asami held her head, for some reason she felt responsible for that wound, she felt bad for even looking at such a thing. Asami wrapped the tape over the old makeshift bandage as she looked at her hands. They were covered in blood, as Asami sighed.

"Well, you were about to say something right?" The pale girl asked as Asami gave a quick reply.

"I'll help you..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**The one of many creatures,**

"Well, since you're going to help me...I guess we should give names," The pale girl stated as Asami continued to sit on the floor. It was rather odd, someone who had the Sato name sitting on the floor of a hotel seemed unsightly, at least to Asami.

"My name is Scylla, actually that's not my real name, but it's the name everyone uses so please don't ask for my real one," Asami wanted to question the oddity of the name, Asami heard of it before. It sounded like something from an old Earth Kingdom story that no one told anymore.

"Well, I'll give you my name...as long as you don't freak out..." Asami was actually use to that happening, either they didn't believe her or wanted some sort of autograph. It was charming to say the least, if a little annoying.

"Wow...placing yourself pretty high," Scylla smiled at Asami's pride, no matter how small Asami still held on to her family name, for some reason it gave her a moral boost. Something that looking at her father did as well,

"Asami Sato," As Asami stated her name Scylla simply tilted her head, no doubt she was confused. Which caused Asami wonder, her name wasn't that odd,

"_Or maybe she's surprised, and she's showing it in an odd way," _That had to be it, even if Scylla didn't know how famous she was, nothing was odd about Asami's name,

"Asamisato? That's really weird and long, also, why did you pronounce it wrong? You made a giant gap right in the middle," Oh, it seemed it was the simple fact that Scylla was stupid rather than ignorant. Though both of those words could mean the exact same thing, depending on who you ask.

"No, no, Asami is my first name, Sato is my last. They aren't suppose to be put together like that," Thinking about it, the very idea of a last name seemed rather odd, it was to tell what family you were from, but only the wealthy really needed it. Asami was still glad she had one, but it probably was odd for people who never heard of the concept.

"Ah...that doesn't make sense, is your last name the name that got second place in a contest or something? Bah, I'll just assume that is your title, so I'll ask what you want me to call you anyway?" Scylla asked a simple question as Asami sighed, Scylla really was making a big deal out of nothing,

"Just Asami, but I'm starting to think we're losing the original meaning of this conversation," Scylla perked up, actually Asami just realized how strange it was, if she truly did kill Scylla; she was taking it rather well. A little too well in fact, it was unsettling to say the least, having a person you cut up smiling at you like nothing happened, and the hat.

Saying it devoured her hair was correct, no even a sliver was shown. Considering how large the hat Scylla was wearing, it made sense, though it was probably just a really bad fashion statement trying to be made.

"Well, Asami I guess we can start the real conversation..." The wide eyed girl known as Scylla expression changed in an instant, no longer was it the cheerful young girl, but something no quite right as she glared at Asami. "Tell me, how did you manage to cut me up? Even if you were using a sharp knife it would have just bounced off my skin normally, but what you used wasn't a sharp knife at all..."

Scylla dug under her hat as she dragged out a dull knife stained red, Asami eye twitched, she knew that knife. The shape, the dull edge, its worthlessness. Asami knew that blade better than anyone else at that moment, because it was the blade that she used to cut apart Scylla. It seemed that Asami made a fatal mistake that no killer should make, she left the murder weapon.

Scylla's blue eyes narrowed as she tossed the weapon towards Asami who caught it, "Well, show me again, show me how you can cut things apart, unless you're going to tell me..." It seemed Scylla was good with either or as Asami looked at the knife, the blood was dried and already starting to peel as she sighed.

"Well...it's weird, but when I'm not wearing my glasses, I can see...things," Asami rubbed her shoulder as Scylla continued to look at her guest. "Weird things scribbled on the walls...no, on the very world itself. Not just ceilings or floors, but on the sky, lines and blocks everywhere they were always calling out to me...asking me to cut them apart. The worse part is when I see them on other people, it makes me want to vomit, I hate seeing it on other people..." Asami started to mumble to herself as Scylla tilted her head, she was thinking about something.

"Asami, what happens when you trace the lines or stab those blocks?" Asami sighed at Scylla question,

"You know first hand what happens when I trace those lines, when I stab a block, things simply shatter. I don't see blocks too much, and then their crosses and stars, which I barely see any of, I think they all have a meaning..." Asami reply was rather flat and uninformative, though it seemed that Asami saw more than just lines, she saw many other things.

Scylla paused for a moment, "Well this is unexpected, I met someone like you a while back, but this is a little different..." Asami had no idea what Scylla was talking about, but it seemed the blue eyed girl was remembering something from her past. "Asami, you saw lines even in the sky right? And no matter what weapon you're using you can cut or break anything if you stab or follow those lines...correct?" Asami simply nodded as Scylla laughed a little, was it funny? Or maybe so odd that the strangest person in the room couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, I see..I was lucky that I wasn't someone from here, it seems that you can attack the flaws in the flesh and creation of beings...everything under the Avatar of Earth protection and the spirits of creation can have flaws seen and cut apart, but you do more than that. You do more than just see the flaws in the flesh and damage them, you see the flaws of somethings very existence, so if you killed someone that came from this planet, it won't ever come back. Even if said thing could regenerate or reincarnate, that will all end if they are killed by you when your eyes are in use. You basically ignore all defenses and dismantle them in the most primitive and effective way," Asami wanted to slam her head against the wall at such an explanation.

"Wait, I don't get it? Are you saying things that I kill are considered...killed twice?" That was the only way Asami could see it, as Scylla nodded.

"Basically yeah, even things like the elements and concepts could be destroyed if you could perceive them as physical things...but something like that is impossible for you, it would be like trying to comprehend the actions of a god with a human brain. You're still human even with such an ability, you won't be able to destroy things like gravity without messing up your head pretty badly," Asami didn't know if Scylla was mocking her, was trying to be funny. Though this brought up a rather odd thing.

"If you said things that I cut apart will die no matter what...why are you still alive?" Scylla facial expression changed, it seemed she was actually shocked that Asami was able to pick up such a meaningless detail as Scylla shrugged before flopping on her bed.

"Who cares about something like that, with you, we can kill the killer perfectly, plus I have a feeling that they're going to attack this hotel tonight," The way that Scylla was talking about it was irritating, the fact she said kill was scary. After all, Asami had never took someone's life, at least not while she was sane. Asami assumed that Scylla meant capture or turn in the killer, but as Asami thought more about she realized that Scylla said no such thing, she said stop the killer. She didn't say how they would stop the killer. "It should be easy for an expert like you, right? You killed me perfectly so killing someone else the same way would be like swatting a fly," Asami frowned as Scylla made such a comment, it seemed there was something that needed to be corrected.

"Listen, I can't just kill another person..." Scylla blinked, it was surprising to say the least. The person who killed her saying she couldn't kill another person was strange.

"What?! What do you mean you couldn't kill another person?!" No doubt it was Scylla's voice that sounded irritated as she continued. "I mean you must have killed plenty of people before me, only an expert would be able to do something like that, I mean you slipped though the game between me and the door. Only someone who had done that sort of thing before would be able to do that..."

It was an absolute fact, that only someone with prior knowledge or training would have been able to do something like, "No, I just can't...you were actually the first person I've ever killed..." Scylla gave a small gasp, once again Asami managed to surprise the girl by stating the truth, as Scylla grumbled.

"No way...it was your fist time and you were that good?" Asami couldn't help, but shiver at the comment. For some reason Scylla made it sound rather perverted, something Asami wanted to avoid no matter what, "But...if I was really your first, why did you kill me, I just assumed you were a serial killer as well,"

"I-I'm not a killer! And I don't know why I wanted to cut you apart, I've had those urges before, but as long as I was wearing my glasses I was fine..." Actually even Asami questioned why she wanted to do it to Scylla, sure she was odd, but there was nothing particularly spectacular about the girl. Scylla was decent looking, paled skin girl with blue eyes...though that brought up another topic.

"...Scylla, are you an alter?" Asami assumed Scylla was an alter that could regenerate, but even then the conversation they just had made that impossible, after all an alters were still born on earth and everything on earth would die to her sight.

Scylla simply sighed, it was a rather disappointed sigh, like Asami should have knew something simple as that, "No, I'm not an alter, and I'm not a spirit or bender or anything of the sort. I won't tell you who I am, because even if I did you wouldn't believe me," Asami would have to take Scylla's words to heart as the blue eyed girl flopped back on her bed and closed her eyes.

"I'm going to sleep, wake me up when it gets dark, since you messed me up so badly I need to regain some of my strength...do what you want until then," Asami wanted to speak, but it seemed Scylla was already snoring causing Asami to give a rather heavy sigh. No doubt she wasn't going to wake up for awhile as Asami eyes cut towards the tape on the small counter.

"_Well, I guess I can do that much..."_

Scylla's eyes snapped open as the sound of a door closing rang through the room, she sat up seeing a familiar black haired girl with a bag. She wondered how long she was sleeping as Asami adjusted her glasses slightly. "Where did you go?" Scylla yawned as she asked that question, the window that once showed light was enveloped in darkness.

No doubt it was night.

"Ah... well I just got some stuff," Asami replied as she took out some bandages among and some liquids, no doubt they were used for cleaning wounds as Scylla rubbed her eyes.

"Oh, did you get hurt while I was asleep?" It seemed Scylla hadn't realize that those things were for her as Asami simply sighed.

"They're for you, I thought these would be a lot better than just some tape, I mean, aren't you worried about that getting infected?" Asami asked as Scylla shrugged, yawning once again before getting up from her bed. Asami handed Scylla the products. The blue eyed girl stuffed them under her had, as if it was some sort of pocket. Asami wanted to ask how she did that, or more importantly what was under her hat.

"Are you sure that it's safe under there?" Asami did pay for the products and it would have been a shame if they got lost or destroyed.

"No worries, they're safer there than anywhere else at the moment, speaking of safe, w-" Scylla didn't even finish her statement as a large crash was heard. Like the floor above them was rumbling and shacking, Asami nearly forgot that there was another floor though she had no idea what would cause it to shake.

Asami turned to Scylla, who's expression was changed into something terrifying. A mixture of anger and irritation painted her face. Asami shuttered, not at Scylla's expression, but an odd feeling of dread and despair that filled her for no reason. As if something entered the building that was simply evil, something simply not right...

"So...she's here already, I didn't even notice before...she's starting at the top floor and working her way down, knowing her she's probably already done eating half of the third floors inhabitants," Once again Scylla was saying something odd, something Asami didn't understand at all as Scylla turned towards Asami and made a demand.

"Stay here, I need to check something, do not leave this room until I come back..." Asami simply blinked as the pale girl ran out of the room, it was the first time Asami saw Scylla worried since she met the young girl. As Asami sat down on the bed,

"_Does that mean the killer is here already?" _Asami took a deep breath as she touched her glasses, she wondered if she should follow. After all, wasn't that the entire reason she was there? To help her catch the killer and stop the murders, even if it was more of a favor born of guilt than anything else it was still something she promised. _"It's not much of a plan, but I guess I can check around this floor for awhile," _Asami took a deep breath as she removed her glasses, they would just get in the way due to the time it would take to remove them.

Asami felt the knife in her pocket, as she bit her lip. The lines and blocks started to stain the world as she exited the room,

The hallway was lit with a soft light as Asami looked around, there was no one around, not a single soul as Asami grumbled. She remembered Scylla saying something to the like that she rented out the entire floor, so it was only natural that no one would be around... "I guess, I can look around the third floor," Asami held her head, for a moment she really did start to wonder if what she was doing was a good idea.

As Asami walked towards the stairs leading to the third floor, the only sound accompanying her was her own footsteps, until something odd was heard, something that was mind numbingly weird echoed through the floor. Something like an animal was heard.

Growling and panting bit into Asami's ear drums as her eyes narrowed, she scanned the hallway as two figures appeared.

They were four legged creatures, at least that is all that Asami could tell, nothing else really made sense about them. She assumed it was some kind of wolf-lion or a dog-bear, but it was impossible to pick out features. They had gleaming red eyes, as the fur on their backs stood up, Asami wanted to scream, not at the creatures, but she wanted to scream at what one of them was holding in its jaws.

A human arm, a human arm was in it's mouth as it swallowed it whole. It seemed the beast was looking for it's next meal and it had found it. The beast behind the first simply stayed, as the four legged creature rushed towards Asami, despite the large distance from them.

Saying it was fast, would be an insult to it's speed, Asami was truly at awe at how quickly an organic creature could move so quickly.

Asami wondered if she should stand her ground our simply try to run, though she knew running would be pointless since it would catch up in less than a second. The only reason she considered it was because of the primitive instinct of survival.

Asami held her knife tightly, trying her best not to shake. It was funny, she trained for combat against humans, but as soon as she saw something that clearly wasn't human she broke down. If it was a normal animal maybe she would have been more calm, but the beasts in front of her clearly werent normal.

"Gah!" It was amazing actually, the monster speed doubled when it was within ten feet of the girl as it tackled her with a force closer to that of a bowling ball, clamping down on her arm instantly.

Saying it was painful was an understatement as the beast tried to rip off Asami's arm. Asami's eye twitched, she noticed a large block on the forehead of the best, in that instant she stabbed the block, shattering the monsters head.

It was odd, there was no blood, only a thick black goop as the headless body of the beast went limp. Ignoring the pain Asami sat up, she knew something else was coming, she knew it because she saw it before she was tackled, "...!"

With the swipe of the dull knife, the hind legs of a beast were cut off. No doubt it was the second beast that as it fell to the ground with a thud. Surprisingly, it was still alive, crawling down the hall on it's front paws. It probably wasn't a threat any longer as Asami fell to one knee, her breath was shaky as foot steps were heard.

"Aw, what? You guys couldn't even take care of one piece of trash? Man you guys are pretty lame, what's worse is that you died...how does that even happen! How can something that can't die, die?" A voice that Asami never heard before. No doubt it belonged to a female, someone around Asami's age.

Asami looked up at the girl, her brown hair fell to her ankles, though that wasn't the main draw. Her eyes, her eyes were the main things that disturbed Asami. They were simply pools of black, no details no nothing. Just hollow orbs of nothing as the teenager spoke once again.

"But it's strange, you don't look like a bender, I guess you're an alter. I'm honestly surprised, you don't see a lot of alters hanging around these parts," The odd girl walked towards the crawling beast as she leaned down and touched its forhead.

Crushed.

The beast was crushed that second, it simply turned into a black stain as the girl turned her attention to Asami, who was simply frozen. If Asami wasn't scared before, she was scared now, because she had a nagging feeling in her heart that what she was looking at was no longer human. "You know, I'm an alter too, though I guess calling me human still would be wrong...I evolved far past that,"

She smiled, the girl with hollowed eyes smiled as Asami remained frozen. Not moving an inch, the hollowed eyed girl was within five feat of Asami, who simply looked like a deer not knowing what to do or where to go.

"Oh...well, this is it I'm afraid, can you please disappear from my world...?" In that moment, the hollowed eyed girls chest cracked open as what appeared to be a sharkgator came jumping out.

It was far too late to dodge such a move, it was unfortunate that Asami would be devoured their...or so she thought.

Something shoved her, no doubt it was a human hand as Asami vision refocused on the scene in front of her. It was Scylla no doubt, Scylla holding her side as a large chunk of her flesh was bitten off. Asami wanted to close her eyes, it was a horrifying sight, even more horrifying when Scylla started to speak.

"You...playing games with the people here, I thought you were above that...Kānshǒu," No doubt Scylla just said the hollowed eyed girl's name.

"Well it was just a little fun, but I'm more interested in what happened to you, usually you would cause me to run away in feat. However, in you current condition you're no better than the average bending trash...what happened? Even if you were crushed and killed, you should be back up to your full strength after an hour of resting...but you're pathetic as you are now," Kabshou shrugged "Oh well, I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, if I can eat you I can add you to my collection..."

Kabshou moved towards Scylla, "Well, I don't think that would be a good idea, after all we caused a lot of commotion, if someone saw you leaving it would be pretty bad right?" Kabshou stopped, it seemed that Scylla's words actually effected her as the hollowed eyed girl simply sighed.

"Oh fine, we'll finish this tomorrow night, plus it seems another annoying rat is here..." Kabshou turned toward the wall as a fist of what appeared to be some sort of bear knocked it down, no doubt it came from her body. Without hesitation, Kabshou jumped down, despite being the second floor. Asami didn't even see the landing, she was far too concerned about Scylla.

"H-hey, are you alright?" It was a stupid question, of course she wasn't alright, Scylla was miss a second of her torso, no one would be alright after that.

"Sorry, I'm a little sleepy, can you carry me back to my room..." Scylla collapsed Asami wanted to object, but it seemed the blue eyed girl was already asleep.

"_We can't go back to the room, people might ask us questions...but I can't take her home either," _Asami frowned, it seemed she would to find a solution to such a problem as her legs started to shake. No doubt it was a mixture between the pain in her head and the wound on her arm. _"Actually, I'm not feeling well either," _

Asami put her glasses back on, as she grabbed Scylla, _"I hope she doesn't mind being dragged for a bit..." _

**Author note, **

**Thank you to all those who review, and I'm trying to fix my grammar, but the word program I'm using doesn't really pick any of those up. I also apologize for how slow this is going, the first for chapters are kind of an extend start. We'll probably see more of the political stuff about Alters around chapter five.**


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